Legal

CHA’s legal department advocates vigorously before the courts on behalf of California hospitals, both as a party in litigation and as amicus curiae in important appellate cases. In addition, the CHA legal department prepares legal memoranda and manuals to help hospitals understand and comply with state and federal laws. The CHA legal department also supports CHA staff in their advocacy efforts before the state legislature and regulatory agencies.

CHA’s legal department advocates vigorously before the courts on
behalf of California hospitals, both as a party in litigation and
as amicus curiae in important appellate cases. In
addition, the CHA legal department prepares legal memoranda and
manuals to help hospitals understand and comply with state and
federal laws. The CHA legal department also supports CHA staff in
their advocacy efforts before the state legislature and
regulatory agencies.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released two
proposed rules last week about the confidentiality of substance
use disorder (SUD) patient information. The first
proposed rule includes several changes to the law governing
medical records created by federally assisted substance use
disorder (FASUD) programs, also known as the Part 2 regulations.

CHA has released the 10th edition of the Hospital Compliance Manual, written
specifically to help California’s hospital compliance officers,
chief financial officers, legal counsel, and risk managers stay
abreast of pertinent state and federal laws. The manual focuses
on high-risk compliance issues and addresses the key components
of an effective compliance plan.

CHA has submitted
comments to the Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in response to a
request for information about modifying Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security
rules.

CHA is pleased to announce the new release of
its Record and Data
Retention Schedule, the first update of this publication
in seven years. The guidebook provides an overview of practical
considerations in record retention policies and helps hospitals
determine which records need to be kept and for how long.

The guide can help reduce storage costs and avoid legal pitfalls
by making clear when it is safe to dispose of certain records.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the
attached proposed rule that would revise certain requirements for
Medicare Parts A, B and D claims appeals. The proposed rule
is intended to reduce regulatory burden and improve clarity and
consistency in the appeals process. Among the provisions, CMS
proposes to eliminate the requirement that appellants sign appeal
requests, and change the time frame for vacating dismissals from
six months (which can vary from 181 to 184 days) to 180 calendar
days.